'Best thing' for her to start baptism classes as soon as possible, judge says

LONDON (JTA) – A British judge has allowed a 10-year-old Jewish child to convert to Christianity against her mother’s wishes.

In November 2011 the mother of the girl applied for a court order to prevent the father from having the girl baptized until the girl turned 16, according to the London Jewish Chronicle. The mother argued the girl had been “brainwashed” and was too young to change faith.

Judge John Platt ruled on Wednesday at Romford County Court in Essex that both the girl and her younger brother could convert to Christianity.

Both parents of the children were Jewish at the time of the girl’s birth, the report said. The father converted to Christianity after the breakdown of his marriage.

The judge reportedly said he decided that “the best thing” for the girl would be to be allowed to start baptism classes as soon as they could be arranged “and that you are baptized as a Christian as soon as your minister feels you are ready”.

The court heard a written submission from Odom Brandman, a Chabad rabbi, who said the case was “extremely disturbing”.

The Jewish Chronicle quoted Brandman as saying, “It is unfair to any child to put them under this pressure and to do something unnatural to their soul.”

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